After years of dodging the death penalty, convicted killer Kenneth Biros was executed Tuesday at the state Death House in Lucasville.
Biros was the first person in the U.S. executed using a single injection of thiopental sodium in place of the former three-drug process.
Even though his execution started about an hour behind schedule, officials said the new one-drug injection went as well as it possibly could have.
Five grams of thipenthalsodium was injected into Biros' left arm through one IV. Biros was pronounced dead at 11:47 a.m.
"There were no problems," said Terry Collins, director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections.
John Parker, one of Biros' attorneys, said once the drugs were flowing, he felt the execution went smoothly. However, he still has major concerns with how the execution team finds IV access.
He said it took at least nine times before a vein was located for the injection. Collins said he still had full confidence in the state's new execution procedure.
Present were family members of the victim, Tami Engstrom, clergy and legal representation for Biros, members of the media and Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere. Prison officials delayed the 10 a.m. execution of Kenneth Biros one hour. They were waiting to see if the U.S. Supreme Court would intervene to stop the process.
But in a brief statement Tuesday, the court said it denied Biros' request for a stay of execution. Biros had argued the state's new method would be painful. The state's switch to one drug was meant to end a lawsuit that claimed the three-drug system could cause severe pain, and experts have agreed that the single anesthetic will not cause pain
Biros was sentenced to death for the 1991 murder and dismemberment of Engstrom. In a morning press conference, details of Biros' last evening and morning were revealed.
Biros' mother, two sisters, and brother-in-law, visited him Monday evening, giving him CD's. He went to sleep around 2 a.m., sleeping for four hours. The family described him as calm, restful and relaxed. They said their meeting was emotional.
Tuesday morning Biros was visited again by his mother, who reportedly kissed him through his cell front. Biros requested that he be allowed to wear a white scarf, prison officials refused that request, but did say he could have it next to him.
Demonstrators opposed to the sentence stood outside the prison. They held signs and pictures of Biros, reiterating their opposition to death penalty sentences.
Biros was convicted of the 1991 rape, murder and dismemberment of 22-year-old Tami Engstrom of Hubbard. Her body parts were spread across Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Engstrom's brother, Tom Heiss, and sister, Debi Heiss, Monday night lit a candle and set out photographs of Tami's father, husband and other family members who have passed away in the time it took for Biros' sentence to be carried out. Over the years, Biros' attorneys have filed several appeals.
A previous execution was stayed the day it was set to take place in 2007. Biros was 51 years old.
